including soldiers, schoolchildren, and businessmen and women. It was rather inconvenient, and undignifying for the patients, to
have a group of 150 soldiers traipsing through the ward while one was
trying to work. But the visits are important. The aim is both to educate
people about Aids and so prevent it and to raise funds. Everyone is encouraged
to leave a donation.
Dr Alongkot is setting up a second project for orphans and HIV positive
children. He is also building a bigger crematorium at Wat Phrabahtnamphu
- because, last year, 558 people died there.
Aids is now the main cause of death in Thailand, having overtaken accidents
and heart disease (see 'Good and Bad News from Thailand,' Positive
Nation October 2001). According to UNAIDS, one million out of a population
of 61 million had HIV by the beginning of 2000 - one in 46 of the
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adult population. The highest risk groups are intravenous drug users
and sex workers, both female and male. However, because so many people
are infected, the disease can be picked up by a variety of ways. I spoke
to a pregnant woman in Bangkok who was infected by a needle that had been
re-used for her regular contraceptive injection.
However, new cases of HIV have been dropping in recent years, from 143,000
in 1991, to 20,000 last year. A long and widespread mass-media blitz including
a
'100% Condom Campaign' has brought about a decrease in new infections. Thailand is one of the few countries where politicians have
